Fallocaust (The Fallocaust Series) (112 page)

Doc put his hands out. “I can see you’re worried but you have to look at this from Killian’s perspective. Asher is technically still out there, and he did have some very traumatizing things happen, not even two months after coming back from Donnely and a month or so from the factory. You and your papa’s have been overloading that kid’s head. I’m surprised he hasn’t had a stroke.”

“What can I do to make him stop?”
Doc gave out a dry chuckle, I guess I could have said it better. “Just do what you think Reaver would do, and then do the opposite.”

My brow furrowed at him. Even though in a lot of respects I had kind of been doing that.

“Time will help him, and you can help make that time shorter. You have xanax, valium? All your drug stuff?”
I nodded.

“Use it but carefully,” Doc nodded. “Now... I wanted to share something else with you. I suppose it is a good idea to have him out of ear shot. I was able to put your blood to those Dek’ko drug tests.”

This caught my interest. I wanted to see just what sort of shit that asshole raticater had been pumping me with.

“Reaver... congratulations, you are the very first person I’ve known to have been on scopa.”
“Scopa?”

Doc nodded. “Mind control drug, also known as Devil’s Breath.” I saw him reach into his pocket. “Never seen outside of Skyfall, and mostly found in Skyland used by the Morosians, but it is now banned. Extremely banned. In all districts in Skyfall, I have no idea how he got it.”

Well he had told us in secret he was from the Moros District of Skyfall, the slums. “How does it work?” I asked.

Like he was waiting for it, Doc quickly withdrew his hand from his pocket. He had pinched in his fingers a white substance. Before I could even blink it opened his fingers just a bit and blew.

I flinched away but I could already smell it in my nose. This was cocaine though.

“You’re now my slave,” Doc said. “Just like that, no time to kick in, no nothing.”
“If I want you to give me all your money, you will. If I want you to kill, rape, torture, or fuck me, you will. No hesitation, no argument.”

“Did Killian have the same drug in him?” The notion made me nervous.

Doc shook his head. “Nope, but you also had in him what I found in his tests. Another very popular drug amongst the elite, mostly the ones keen on owning cicaros, arian pets. It also might explain why Killian is rattled of all hell. It’s ressin. It’s a... well, in some circumstances it is extremely fun.” Doc scratched the back of his head. “It makes you sensitive as all hell and horny enough to fuck anything you fancy, again and again without rest. The elites use it as a sex control thing on their pets. You both were positive, you especially. It must have taken a few doses to get you up and atem.”

“I didn’t fuck him.” My voice hovered on a dangerous level.

Doc raised an eyebrow. “Would you remember if you did?”

I really hated that man sometimes.

“I’m sure I would have...” All those times I came back from Killian wanting to have sex with him. I had thought it was just me being drunk and stupid, I guess not.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Reaver. No one can control themselves around those Skyfall drugs.” Doc paused and lowered his voice. “Not you, not Killian, no one.”

I walked out with him and saw Killian sitting politely beside Matt. Matt was telling him some bullshit story that probably wasn’t true. I clicked my tongue and motioned him to the door with me; and we were on our way.

That night he woke up again, but I was ready for him. As soon as he went for the face, but before he could fully wake up I slipped him some xanax with the water I offered him. He fell back asleep, and... hopefully, he would stay asleep.

Like I had been doing every night, I slipped my clothes back on and grabbed my M16 and started patrolling outside of Aras.

I know I had promised him, but I couldn’t just let him go, and the dirt bike made good time. Each night I found myself getting farther and farther from Aras but I still managed to make it home before he woke up.

I had stashed the dirt bike in a crevice on the large rocky crags that Reno lived on. Every night I snuck out of the north gate and spent the next six hours looking for him. So far I hadn’t turned up anything, it was a cold trail. Where ever Asher had run off to, he had done it in his usual stealth.

It was like I was tracking myself, I remembered how much of a living shadow he was when we would patrol together, or when we had to out match each others agility. He was as good as I was.

Perhaps it was a fools mission, but I had to do something. Killian slept more then I did, and that meant a lot of time idle in my basement. I’d go crazy if I didn’t have some way to occupy my mind. It was the only thing I could do to not think about it.

I had trusted Asher, I really had. The raticater had well, I hated to admit it now that he had betrayed me, but the asshole had been my friend. I didn’t have many friends.

He had taken me for a sucker, and played me like a piano, right under Killian’s nose. He had known better, but I had been too pre-occupied hanging out with my buddy.

I liked to believe I never made the same mistake twice, and this was an unfortunate mistake to make. I don’t think I would ever be willing to trust someone else to be my friend. I hoped Reno stayed alive for a long while, or else it would just be me and Killian; and that kid drove me nuts sometimes.

But all the craziness I was having to deal with right now was my fault. Because I was blind to reality I had let him get raped by Asher. Or not raped, fuck I don’t even know what happened to him. I just knew he had gotten fucked by that dildo, what else that might’ve happened... he wasn’t talking.

Doc’s words over the ressin had made me understand why he didn’t want to tell me. But since he wasn’t mind controlled like me, I didn’t think Asher would’ve been able to do anything to him so... I don’t know.

I couldn’t think about it and I didn’t want to think about it. I was a shit boyfriend with a bad track record right now. The only way I could re-deem myself was to bring Killian back Asher’s head.

With Bridley it had been two weeks, two weeks I had tortured him. I would tell people I left him for raver bait, and in a way I had, what parts of him I didn’t eat.

Those weeks had been the best ones I had ever had until I met Killian. I was able to play out many fantasies with him, a lot of amusing questions had been answered too. Like what happens if you leave someone tied up, bloodied and wounded with a dozen radrats. The answer was very interesting, though he wasn’t able to tell me his opinion on the answer; he was missing his lips.

Now I was older, and I was more controlled. It would be a waste of penicillin and bandages but I would treat the first wave of wounds so I could keep him alive for longer. Three weeks of fun? Or perhaps a month? I would ask Killian. Surely he’s been around me enough to develop some sort of blood thirsty streak.

First things first, screw fucking him with the dildo. I would offer him up to Killian on a silver platter and if he didn’t want to do that deed, we could always stick some razor blades into that dildo.

Now that I would pay to see.

“No luck?” Sadii called quietly, she had been letting me out and in every night.

I shook my head and walked through the narrow gates, sleeping deacons on either side of me. “Quiet as ever.”

I lit a quil, it was still a couple of hours before daylight. I’d be able to catch some sleep before Killian woke up. I could lay down and sleep right beside him like I had done the entire night.

I pulled the hood over my head as I felt the first raindrop hit my nose. Well at least the rain had good timing, I would have been pissed off if it started pouring while I was in the wastes. Though I always enjoyed the smell. Wet pavement smelled so clean for some reason, and that mixed in with the smell of wet ash and rust, I suppose it reminded me of home. Though if you wanted it to really be home you had to throw a carcass into the mix too.

I leaned up against one of the trucks and spent a moment to finish my smoke and look up at the accumulating clouds. The stars disappearing into the haze one by one.

I felt a pattering beside me and I glanced to my left.

“Decided to come back, huh?” I reached down and petted Deek’s ears, he gave me a wag. I wouldn’t tell Killian ever but I had chased him off of my property the morning after I had woken up from being drugged. I was pissed off that he hadn’t helped find Killian or been around when I needed him. I hadn’t realized he had been locked in the shed until after I chased him out.

Well like all dogs he was forgiving to the point of being stupid. The scratch on the ears made us friends again.

After I had finished my quil I started walking back home. The dog was in front of me smelling the rain and the emergence of all the smells it brought. The rain started to come down harder.

I glanced up to see that the grey clouds had completely covered the stars now, off in the distance blacker ones had begun to form. It looked like we might be in for our first storm.

I clicked the dog close and was about to jog home to keep my clothes dry, when I froze right on the spot.

I could hear something.

I immediately started dimming my other senses, focusing on the peculiar tune that was reaching my ears. As the world fell silent it strengthened.

A piano... it was playing...

It was playing a slow song, it sounded similar to the tune Asher had played. Not identical but the same.

I grabbed my gun, and motioned for the dog to stay behind me. I crouched down to a fast run and made my way towards the noise. I knew where it was coming from, it couldn’t have been more obvious.

It was coming from Killian’s house.

A single deep breath calmed my rising pulse, and my adrenaline. I had no use for the primitive instincts my body was telling me to act on. I had a job to do. Oh it was going to be great to have another torture session. Bridley’s death would look like a act of mercy compared to what I would do to Asher.

I glanced behind to make sure I wasn’t being followed and in light foot steps I ran into the cul-de-sac.

He must have known I would be able to hear him, was he suicidal? What if this was a set up...

I scanned the perimeter of the house and clicked for the dog to stay close to me.

As quickly as I could, with the slow and somber song playing, I walked the entire area of the house, but I couldn’t see or hear any sign of an ambush; everything was cleared and undisturbed.

It was just him, was he coming back to face the music? If so he was a fool, no amount of back talking would prevent me from slowly and painfully taking his life.

There was nothing more to do... I kicked open the already ajar door, it slammed up against the wall with a deafening slam.

“Get on the fucking floor!” I screamed, pointing my gun at the figure.

The piano keys stopped, the shadowy figure stopped, I took a step closer.

“Killian?” I blinked, thinking I was hallucinating. This seemed like the equivalent of finding a cat in a deacon’s den. I put my gun away. “What the hell are you doing here? I could have shot you.”

Killian was staring at the white keys, he reached down and pressed one. The whole house echoed the key stroke.

“I had a bad dream,” he said simply. “Asher was in the basement and you were gone.”

I stood back as he raised himself, he only had a jacket over his t-shirt and sleeping pants. I felt a surge of guilt. “I’m... I’m sorry, let’s go home. I’ll lay down with you.”

Killian was extremely out of it, I think the xanax and the painkillers had made him rather muggy. I piggy backed him home. It was faster and I didn’t want him to get any sicker than he was right now. Especially this into the cold rainy season.

Well at least I hadn’t discovered him missing after I had come home. I probably would have had a fucking panic attack and woken the entire block up.

“Asher is long gone, you know what right?” I said when we were back in bed.

Killian looked up at the dark ceiling, the bluelamp was on dim beside him. “I know,” he replied in the quiet voice.

I wished he would talk more, I wished he would tell me things. This quietness he had about him since the incident was driving me crazy. This kid usually opened up to me about everything, whether I liked it or not. As soon as he woke up he was talking about all the things he wanted to do, and telling me stories from his town, or gossip about the residents. If he wasn’t doing that he was begging me to do the same back to him, or to teach him something. He loved talking, and he loved listening.

Now... now he was just shut down. I know it had only been a couple days, but it had been weird. I missed him... I missed talking to people. I guess with Asher being around, Killian chattering and even Reno hanging around all of us I had gotten used to the stimulation. The blow of Asher leaving had rattled all our cages, now it was just odd silence.

“There is no way he can be in Aras.”

“I know.”

I sighed, giving up on trying to get him to talk to me. I had to just be patient, I hated being patient.

For the couple of hours of sleep I would get I would hold him tight. Not to be affectionate, but so I would know if he tried to leave the basement again. If there was one thing Killian didn’t do it was leave our house in the middle of the night, he hated leaving it during the day without me.

I tried to push the worry away, and concentrate on what Doc said, but I was worried. I just hoped this incident with Asher hadn’t done permanent damage.

Chapter 47

Lycos

There were many sounds you got used to when you were riding on a caravan. The squeaking of wheels straining to get up the uneven ground, the old wood shifting back and forth, and of course the bosen. Ugly, smelly beasts but a lot more reliable than trucks and quads, especially in this terrain. They weren’t following a road now, it was straight hugging the canyon until they got to Anvil. Trying to get a truck going in these parts was just foolhardy.